by Wells, Linda
“Well in hand, madam.” He followed her gaze. “The card rooms are set, the supper rooms are organized. The musicians will arrive at six … The staff is determined to do the master proud.” Drawing a deep breath he clasped his hands together. “All we need are the guests. After eighteen years of silence, this house will come to life once more.”
“It is about time, I think.” Pressing her hands down her skirt, she watched a group of maids trouping up the stairs from the kitchens. “How are Mrs. Johns’ ices coming?”
“She is a madwoman.” Evans confided.
“Pray for a cool night.” Elizabeth laughed and took hold of the banister. “The ladies, are they still at breakfast?”
“Yes, madam. Hopefully not for too long.” He said pointedly.
“You need to reset the room, I know. We will have a dinner buffet in the blue drawing room to keep out of your way.” She bit her lip. “Miss Darcy, did she join them?”
“Yes, but she looks pale as a ghost. Is she ill?” He asked softly. “I have not seen her so unhappy in quite some time.”
“I will speak to her, thank you, Evans. I do not know what I would do without you.” Smiling at the man’s puffing chest, she looked up at the stairs for the sanctuary of her rooms, and then sighing, let go of the banister and walked towards the dining room.
“WHERE DID YOU MEET MR. MANNING? He was in London this summer, and you were not.” Lady Matlock asked Georgiana.
“Oh … I … he saw Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth when they were travelling to Scotland …” Her voice trailed off as she realized her error.
“Yes, that is correct; I remember he mentioned seeing you.” Cathy said slowly.
“He spoke of me?” Her voice cracked slightly. “What did he say?”
Lady Matlock took charge briskly, “My dear, it does not matter what he said. You are not out. He should not have done more than nod politely at you and look away. Were you presented to him as Darcy’s young sister?”
“I … I …”
“Well certainly she was, they have been friends since Eton. The man knows Darcy has a sister.” Lady Catherine sighed. “And Darcy would not have promoted her! You are being ridiculous, Grace. How can you possibly feel threatened by Georgiana?”
“Threatened?” Georgiana whispered.
The countess regarded her niece. “She is not out, she should not interact with these men and it is correct that she should not attend the ball.”
“I agree.” Cathy nodded.
“Of course you do.” Caroline prodded.
“Caroline!” Louisa stepped on her foot.
“She should attend!” Lady Catherine proclaimed. “Not to dance, but to observe. She should see how gentlemen and ladies conduct themselves at such an affair. I have spoken to Mrs. Darcy on this but she disagrees. Why should she be hidden?”
“Because she is sixteen! Any woman who appears in that ballroom is game for the gentlemen. They should not have to sort out who is approachable and who is not. It is not as if she will be wearing a flower in her hair indicating that she is untouchable. No, Georgiana, I am sorry, but you are too young. If you seek Elizabeth to petition her for permission to attend, I will speak against you.” Lady Matlock said with finality.
“My brothers found you to be quite womanly.” Sophie smiled at Georgiana, while missing Cathy’s narrowing eyes. “They were very taken with you, and very disappointed that you were only sixteen. It is for the best, I think, that you not attend. Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam are correct to say no.”
“Yes, I remember your brothers staring at her. It was quite unsuitable.” Cathy added quickly. “Well then, it is even more important that you not attend. If you look older than you are, you are not protected from their attention. You should most certainly stay well away from the marriage market in the ballroom. After all, that is what the dancing is for.”
“I think that I would have enjoyed visiting a ball as a girl. It would have been exciting. But then, my elder brothers would have been circling me protectively.” Sophie shrugged.
“I witnessed it enough times, Mrs. Fitzwilliam.” Mrs. Annesley murmured. “However, I do not think that there is anything to worry over here. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are quite adamant that Miss Darcy not participate.”
Georgiana took a breath and was surprised when Jane grasped her hand and smiled reassuringly. “I know that Lizzy will hear you out, so do not fear speaking to her, even if you are sure that she will continue to say no.”
“Why, I wonder?” Caroline asked. “After all, Mrs. Darcy was out at fifteen. She surely sees it as normal to be exposed so young.”
“I was out at fifteen as well, Sister, and I assure you, I did not like it one bit.” Jane reminded Caroline before she smiled at Georgiana. “I wish that I had someone to protect me as Fitzwilliam and Lizzy protect you.”
“All of your sisters were out at once, I believe.” Lady Catherine studied Jane critically. “Before you were married.”
“Yes, madam.”
“I met your sister, Mrs. Collins. How does she fare now that she is mistress of Longbourn?”
“Tolerably, madam.” Jane thought of her new brother. “She has a great deal to take on.”
“She married a fool.” Lady Catherine pronounced. Jane blushed while Louisa and Caroline exchanged looks.
“She seems to like him.” Jane said quietly.
“She has no choice.” Lady Catherine’s attention returned to her niece. “Have you a proper ball gown?”
“No, Aunt.” Georgiana looked down at her hands. “Besides, I fear that all of my gowns do not fit well anyway. It happened last summer, too. I feel terrible for the money Fitzwilliam has spent on clothes that I have not worn.”
“Hmm. You are still growing.” Lady Matlock looked at her critically. “That is the Darcy in you. Hopefully it will stop before you come out and before you become unfashionably tall. Anne was not so very tall, was she Catherine?”
“We were matched.” Lady Catherine nodded. “There is a portrait of her in the gallery …” Her eyes sparked. “Georgiana!” She jumped. “Do you know that portrait of your mother?”
“Well … yes, of course. I look upon it often.” She saw Cathy shaking her head and confused, looked to her aunt. “She was very pretty.”
“Do you know the ring that she wore on her hand in the painting?” Georgiana’s mouth opened a little and she felt her nervousness returning under her aunt’s intense scrutiny. “I thought that your brother might give it to you, it is far more meaningful to you than to his wife. Have you seen it?”
“Mama.” Anne spoke up tiredly, “I do not believe that the ring in the portrait is the same as the one worn by our vicar’s wife. Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth said that it was misplaced, so please stop digging. It is his ring to keep, give, or lose.”
“Do you know this ring?” Lady Catherine demanded of Georgiana.
She felt tears filling her eyes. “I … I lost it.”
“You lost your mother’s ring!” Lady Catherine stared. “How could you be so careless?”
“Yes, a piece of jewellery such as that is not to be treated like a glass bauble you buy at a fair.” Lady Matlock’s brows knit. “I thought that you were far more responsible than that. Why, if I were to give one of my mother’s precious rings to Cathy and she lost it, I would be devastated!”
“What did Fitzwilliam say?” Anne asked.
“Or does he know?” Cathy added. “What story did you tell him?”
Feeling the eyes of the women upon her, Georgiana stared down at her hands. She could see herself removing the ring from her finger and placing it in Wickham’s palm, and then receiving his kisses and assurances that it would fetch them enough money to live like kings. She was left alone, scared and feeling so strangely ill, and he had returned hours later, stinking of drink and wanting her. It had happened only days before she was found.
She wiped her eyes. “I told him the truth.” Looking up again, she stood. “I am sorry Aunt Catherine for s
haming my mother’s memory with my behaviour and losing something so precious. There is no excuse for it. Pardon me.” Very quickly, she exited the room. Her running feet could be heard as she flew down the hallway.
Mrs. Annesley immediately stood. “I will go see to her.”
When she had left, Sophie was hard-pressed to keep her tongue in check and spoke angrily. “I have no doubt that Miss Darcy has already been thoroughly chastised for her indiscretions by her brother, and there is no need for you all to continue with it.”
Lady Catherine stared after her niece and Cathy watched her. “What is so important about that particular ring, Aunt? Is it just because your sister once wore it?”
“And finding out that it is gone still does not mean that the vicar’s wife wears it.” Anne pointed out. “Why do you care so about that ring, Mama?”
“It is not your business.” She said in a low voice.
“But it is mine now. By disregarding my request and harassing Georgiana, you have made it so.” Everyone turned and saw Elizabeth standing at the doorway. “I told you not to continue with your pursuit, Lady Catherine. Now I have just caught sight of my sister running down the hallway and outside. That she did not break her neck on the newly waxed floors is miracle enough. I want to know why she is in tears and why Mrs. Annesley is following behind her.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I am waiting.”
“It is not to be discussed in public.”
Waving her hand over the room, Elizabeth spoke with sarcasm dripping from her words, “Well, by all means, let us protect your privacy! After all, you did so well caring for Georgiana’s!” Stepping away from the door she waited for Lady Catherine to rise to her feet and join her. As she passed out to the hallway, Elizabeth said with barely contained fury, “I do not need this today, Lady Catherine. I truly do not.”
“I am aware of that.” She said evenly.
“I do not believe that you are.” Elizabeth glared and looked back at the silent women. “I assume that the rest of you can get along for five minutes?” Spinning on her heel, she led the way into the nearby music room and shut the door. “Well?”
Lady Catherine glared at her and then walked away. “Impertinence!”
“It is my home; I can be anything I want. Now what is the story of this cursed ring? Obviously it is not what Fitzwilliam was told by his father.”
“The good luck charm?” She shook her head. “No.” Without her walking stick Lady Catherine found she had nothing to do with her hands, so she approached a table and picked up a stone carving, and stared into the blank eyes of a bearded man. “It was given to me by a young man who I wished to marry.” Elizabeth started and dropped her folded arms. “He was unsuitable.” Putting down the bust, she walked away to the window. “He was handsome and intelligent, but not remotely good enough for an earl’s daughter. My father forbade me seeing him, and of course, that only promoted my taste for him. He would have been better off letting it die a slow death. Instead, in my obstinacy, I considered elopement. Of course before it was too late, I came to my senses and remembering my position, told him to go. The ring was to be my wedding band and he left it with me. He said that he could not sell it nor give it to another.”
Elizabeth could see the grim set of the woman’s mouth in the window’s reflection. “What became of him?”
“He eventually married and had a houseful of children. I understand that he was very happy.” There was absolutely no emotion in her voice. “I married the man my parents chose for me and I have Anne and Rosings.” She continued staring out at the scenery. “I obviously could not wear the ring, but when my sister was to come out and start searching for a husband, I gave it to her. I explained to my parents that I bought it for her. I told Anne to look at it before she agreed to marriage and decide if she would want to wear that man’s ring on her finger for all of her life. She was to return it to me when she married and received her own ring.”
“Obviously she refused. This was your falling out over George Darcy?”
“Hmmm.” Lady Catherine sniffed. “She had a man of the proper status that in time she came to love. She thought that the ring brought her luck. She always was a bit of a dreamer. She began wearing it again when she became pregnant with Georgiana and I suppose that is where her claim of it being a protective charm came about.” She turned away from the window and faced Elizabeth. “And that is the true story of the ring. She was correct to keep it, for me it was a symbol of …” She searched Elizabeth’s face for signs of sympathy and was curious at what she observed. “What are you thinking?”
“You are a complicated woman, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”
The old woman startled and then nearly laughed. “Perhaps.”
“I think that the ring is where it belongs now, don’t you? On the hand of a woman who received it with love and felicity?”
“So … it is on Mrs. Thompson’s hand.”
“I believe so.”
“How did Georgiana come to lose it?” Lady Catherine demanded.
“Does it really matter now? I keep her secrets, and now I will keep yours. Agreed?” Elizabeth raised her brow expectantly.
There was a pregnant pause and she nodded. “Agreed.”
“Fine.” Elizabeth went to the door. “And if you say one more word about Georgiana attending the ball tonight, I will be most unhappy.”
“Oh … I was just playing devil’s advocate to Grace.” She said gruffly. “She thinks that Georgiana will bewitch the Manning boy away from Cathy.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and opening the door strode off in search of Georgiana. Her voice floated back down the hallway behind her. “First I have drunken men jumping in the lake and now I have little girls pulling each other’s hair. All I want is to dance with my husband, is that too much to ask?”
“GEORGIANA!”
Running across the courtyard, she gasped when she met the solid wall of Samuel’s chest. “Oh! I am sorry!”
“What is wrong?” Seeing her distress, he held her shoulders loosely and tried to see her eyes. “Please tell me, let me help you.”
She sobbed and looked up at him. “You do not think me terrible, do you, Samuel?”
He started and held her gaze. “No, why would I think that? What could you possibly have done that …”
“You know everything of me, how can you even ask?” She closed her eyes when he enfolded her into his embrace.
“Yes, I know everything of you.” He sighed. “But you certainly have not repeated your mistakes of the past. Please tell me what has happened?” When she did not respond, Samuel asked gently. “Have the layers of protection been breached? Do your relatives know the truth now? What has been said of you?”
“Nothing that I have not thought of myself a thousand times.” Georgiana whispered when he hugged her and drew a shaking breath. “No, they do not know the truth, but with all of them here, I feel like I am forever waiting for the blade to drop on a guillotine. Do you know what is most difficult?” She felt his head shake. “When you are being rebuked for one thing and all you can hear is condemnation for another. I will never be free of this will I?”
“No.” Samuel said quietly. “No, there is a living, breathing reminder of it in a house only a mile away. But you will learn to live with it, and not to jump at the suggestion of it, especially when the topic of the conversation has nothing to do with your … experience.” He heard her sniff and stared out at the lake. “It is not fair.”
“What is not?” She whispered.
“That every time you take a step forward, there is always someone or something that pulls you back. I apologize, Georgiana.”
“You have done nothing wrong.” She looked up at him. “You have always supported me.”
“Not always.” He shook his head. “In fact recently …” He closed his eyes. “Recently I compared myself to you. Your brother took me to task and I immediately felt humiliated.”
“What did you do?”
Samuel
shrugged. “I said that my decision to become a member of the merchant class was akin to you …” He sighed. “Please forgive me, I was feeling very sorry for myself, and very confused.”
“I know that feeling well.” She rested her head back on his chest. “So you think that you are not good enough to be a Darcy now?”
“Your brother was justifiably angry with me and set me straight.”
“Me, too. I hurt him so terribly. And it amazes me that he is so confident now that all will be well. Elizabeth … She gave her confidence to him and he lends it … demands it of me.” She looked up at him with a small smile when he laughed and nodded. “You too?”
“Your brother has had more confidence in me then I have ever had in myself.” Samuel’s eyes reflected his emotion. “Why is it that you do not appreciate a person’s support until you disappoint them and see their hurt? You take it for granted.” He let go and holding her shoulders, rubbed them and smiled. “So, you will listen to his confidence, and your wonderful sister’s, and ignore whatever set you off with the rest of them. They do not know, and they will never know unless you give them reason to question why you are upset.”
“Today was the day that Fitzwilliam brought me home.”
“I did not know that. A year already.” Samuel marvelled. “And just look at you now. My goodness, you are a sight! What have you done with yourself?”
“What do you mean?” Looking down she examined her gown and looked back up to him worriedly. “Is something amiss?”
“No, not at all. You are lovelier by the day.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip and studied her hands.
“You are. Will you promise me at least two dances?” When her face fell, he frowned. “You are not coming to the ball?”
“No. Fitzwilliam forbids it. Mrs. Annesley and I have determined many things to keep us occupied and then we will retire long before supper is served at midnight …”
Samuel’s brow creased. “I was planning to appoint myself your guardian for the evening.”
“I think that Mrs. Annesley would have performed that role.” She blushed.
“I am certain that she would, very admirably.” Samuel noticed the woman standing in the courtyard near the fountain and watching them, and then spotted Elizabeth appearing and stopping beside the companion, crossing her arms and looking at his hands and up to his face. Samuel smiled and dropped his hands from his cousin’s shoulders and clasped them behind his back. “Perhaps … I could come upstairs and dance with you in the room above the ballroom? We would be able to hear the music?”